Daily Loaf

This week, we’re back in the Champagne Room (aka: the podcast bunker) to rag on episode 6 of the new season on Top Chef.

I have to admit that the “Angels and Devils” theme for the Quickfire Challenge was a bit cheesy (and so were some of the dishes, and I’m not talking dairy here). The cheftestants had to create a duo dish using one main component two ways. Some of the chefs were a bit peeved at Robin’s win with her apple salad and apple crisp. Was Eli right to mock her for playing the cancer story card? No. But I do have to say that Penn and Teller were awesome. Anyway, we welcomed back the lovely Michelle Bernstein from Miami (a past judge on Top Chef) as guest judge this week.

For their Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to deconstruct a classic dish but keep the same flavors of the original dish. The judges table was very- how shall I put this – bitchy this week. The claws were out with Padma and Michelle and it was no-holds-barred with the critiques to the chefs on the bottom of the barrel this week. It was also great to see Michelle put Toby Young in his place concerning the pronunciation of “paella” (and the city of “Barthelona”).

We also got to see Ben Folds (Ashley) on top again this week (surprisingly), as well as Redbeard (Kevin) and Angry Brother (Mike V.). From all of the flack and hate comments we received over last week’s post/episode, I won’t reveal the winner or loser. (But, seriously, why listen if you haven’t seen the episode yet?)

Highlights: Eli hates on Robin for pulling the ‘cancer card’, Ron “The Chowder King”’s not-s0-deconstructed paella, how to pronounce “paella”, Jeff’s new bell, Katie’s thing for married chefs, and our response about the spoilers from last week’s episode.

Hear the hilarious podcast after the jump:
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What a steamy episode this was! I think the title says it all, but you’ll have to listen to our podcast to hear it for yourself.

The Quickfire Challenge this week was the infamous blindfolded taste test. Kelly Choi blinfolded each cheftestant and they had a variety of ingredients to taste and guess – hoisin sauce, ketchup, peanut butter, dashi, poppadum, etc. Surprisingly enough, Mr. Italian himself, Chiarello, took the win for this challenge. I especially enjoyed the blindfolding part, and apparently so did Keller.

Surprise! A bunch of old Top Chef has-beens enter the scene to team up with the chefs and help them cook a buffet spread for 200 “Hollywood insiders” (who or what they were inside, I had no clue). To my happy delight, we got Fabio (”This is not Top Scallop!”) and Jamie from the last season, Elia and Ilan from season 2, Richard, Spike and Antonia from season 3, and some other guys I only kind of remembered. Each chef picked their teams and got to work. But an even bigger surprise was in store for them (go figure) – they had to not only move their buffet outside (read: not good for a raw bar) but also lose a team member before service. Of course the show is going to try to screw everyone over by the final episode!

Highlights: Dale getting all up in Chiarello’s face while Chiarello tries to keep it together and not curb stomp this dude, Anita Lo cursing for what I think was the first time on TCM, the power duo of Bayless and Blais combining their powers to whip up a creamy avocado ice cream, Chiarello being a douchebag throughout most of the episode, Keller smoking out the night before the challenge, and Jay Rayner is badly in need of an extreme makeover. Drama! Action! Excitement! (And the podcast is even better.)

Hear the steamy podcast after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

First of all, I want to say that the views expressed in this podcast are not the opinions of all of us on the panel and definitely not those of Creative Loafing. That being said, if you’re a vegan, we’re apologizing beforehand for this one.

For the quickfire challenge, the cheftestants had quite a juicy challenge: burgers! They each had to create a burger with an accompanying side dish. All of the dishes seemed to reflect their creator – well, maybe not Anita Lo who made “burger soup”, which was runny cheese with chunks of burger. Really, that’s all you’ve got this week, Anita? Girl looked like she was sorely in need of some Ambien, that’s all I’m sayin’. Oh, and I must diss on Bayless (my hot white Mexican chocolate) for serving up guacamole as a side dish. No wait, three different kinds of guac as a side and without chips to dip in them! C’mon, Ricky, guacamole is a condiment.

For the elimination challenge, the cheftestants had to each cater a different course for a luncheon for actress/wannabe singer Zooey Deschanel and her tragic hipster pals. The twist (or “the rat”, as Art put it): Zooey is a VEGAN (read: no meat, fish or dairy) who can’t have anything with gluten or soy either. No meat, no cheese, no wheat, no soy faux meat products, and sorry Art- no fried chicken.

Highlights: Art Smith’s cheat rice milk ice cream (cop out) mixed with strawberries that looked like menses, Chiarello’s chemo (’quinoa’) pasta, Zooey’s tragic hipster party guests, Bayless’ perfectionist tendencies, Anita’s “sad plate”, and general vegan bashing. Bonus: Next week, we get to welcome back past Top Chef contestants Spike, Dale, and Richard Blais (and his fab faux hawk)!

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[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

With Jeff Houck (@TheStew) of the Tampa Tribune, you get food and dining coverage cooked medium-rare in a reduction sauce of snark. His Monday “Weekend Eats” retweets chronicle the amazing, drool-worthy meals his followers ate the previous weekend. And his Top Chef live commentary is a must-read complement to the broadcast each week. A sample tweet:

As for Johnson (@rommiej) — who does NOT blog in an official role as journalist, just an individual, I must preface — read a sample of his tweetstream after the break Read the rest of this entry »

In this first episode of the Championships Round, we welcomed back Hubert “The Other French Guy” Keller, Suzanne “Cold Fish” Tracht, Anita “Cowardly Lion” Lo, Michael “Brown Noser” Chiarello, Art “Honey Bear” Smith, and the delicious Rick “Hot Mexican Chili” Bayless (I’m not partial, I swear).

For the quickfire challenge, the chefs got into two teams and had a Mise en Place Relay Race (a.k.a: chopping and prepping food items) to see whose team was faster, the winner then getting an extra point toward the Elimination Challenge. Let me tell you, that Rick Bayless sure knows how to use a whisk for some hot whisking action – those egg whites sure were at stiff peaks…among other things. Anyhow, back on track, the Bayless/Lo/Keller team took the win.

The chefs were then asked to cook their signature dishes for each other to enjoy. I swear Michael Chiarello put roadkill on a plate and called it dinner, the balsamic glaze looking very much like blood on top of the quail which was sprawled out on the plate. Not cute. Hubert Keller made an interesting lobster and truffle “cappuccino” which was an interesting take on soup (I think it was soup) and Rick made an amazing-looking roasted rack of lamb with pasilla chiles and mission figs (Did I mention I’m not partial to Bayless?).

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to cook another chef’s signature dish but put their own spin on it. What did we get? Cold grouper (Tracht), undercooked ground lamb in a “Scotch egg” (Smith), creamed sea urchin (Keller), lobster on a biscuit (Lo), rack of lamb with figs shoved in it (Chiarello), and some delightful looking quail and parsnips (Bayless).

Highlights: Kelly Choi seeming to be withering away, Art’s “egg issues” and name dropping, the Gael Greene and Elvis affair, the possibility of Anita Lo sabotaging her own food in future episodes just to get kicked off the show, and Rick Bayless’ magical powers of Mexican cuisine.

Hear the hi-larious podcast after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

In this episode, the master chefs had to shop only from one specific aisle in the grocery store for their Quickfire Challenge. I’m sorry, let me correct myself – from Whole Foods Market, having traveled there in their Lexus, and bringing along their handy Gladware storage containers to store the food which would be cooked in/on GE appliances. Oh, and all while sipping on Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper (did I get all of the sponsors in?).

The Elimination Challenge was somewhat tricky: each cheftestant had to shop for another to create a mystery box of ingredients. The recipient of that box then had to choose seven items to utilize in their dish. So each chef decided to totally screw the other one over by giving them crazy ingredients, and Roy Yamaguchi got pissed and went Samaurai on everyone. (No, not really, I just wanted to create some drama for this episode that had to be the most drama-free, playing-it-nice episode yet. *yawn*). No Jay Rayner this week again but we feel all of the brown-colored ingredients on Johnathan Waxman’s plates sufficed to replace Jay’s mole in this episode.

Highlights: Gail Simmons‘ chest as a topic of much conversation (again), Kelly Choi looking very much in need of a proper meal and a better stylist as usual (no, we don’t know who she’s wearing), Johnathan Waxman needs glasses, Art Smith’s lovey-dovey teary-eyed speech at the judges table, and Roy Yamaguchi wanting to be “friends forever” with his new chef pals.

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The NY Times' David "Carpetbagger" Carr does his man-on-the-street thing.

If you haven’t already done so, check out our Oscar contest blog, our live-blog headquarters and our posts  about a might-have-been-an-Oscar-winning film in this year’s Gasparilla International Film Festival.

And for your further Oscar edification, here are some stories (and predictions) worth checking out before the show:

On EW.com, Dave Karger’s provocative speculations about the ten biggest possible upsets — good fodder for your last-minute Oscar-pool votes

In the NY Times: A.O. Scott’s grouchy assessment of the awards’ irrelevance — and, on the other hand, David Carr’s view that, In Times Like These, “there’s nothing quite like gathering around something warm and sparkly when the darkness seems to be intruding at every turn.” (And you’ve got to check out his inimitable Oscar vlog, The Carpetbagger and his awards predictions delivered on location in Times Square, where he  tries valiantly to find anyone else who’s interested in the subject.)

In the Tampa Tribune, Jeff Houck’s clever suggestions for Oscar-nominee food pairings for your awards-party buffet: Samosas for Slumdog, the Piledriver for The Wrestler, and Baby Ruth Brownies for Hellboy II: The Golden Army. (Yes, believe it or not, Hellboy II: The Golden Army is an Oscar nominee for Best Makeup, and if you know Hellboy, you’ll know why the Baby Ruths.)

On VF.com, Annie Leibovitz’s gorgeous photos of award-winning actor/director teams, including a haunting shot of Heath Ledger and Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan. See two shots after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »